Tracer ammunition and to an igniter mixture for tracer compositions



April 26, 1938. T. STEVENSON TRACER AMMUNITION AND TO AN IGNITER MIXTURE FOR TRACER COMPOSITIONS Filed NOV. 50, 1936 Invent 1:1"5

n U1 5E E M m ve m mR %t S m 5 W an ?M U H h r E E Patented Apr. 26, 1938 UNITED STATES oF ic TRACER AMJWUNITION AND TO AN IGNITER MIXTURE FOR TRACER COMPOSITIONS Thomas Stevenson and Ernest R. Rechel,

Philadelphia, Pa.

Application November 30, 1936, Serial No. 113,408

4 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April so, 1928; 370 o. o. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

15 conditions of darkness, it discloses the position of 1 The bullet consists of the usual jacket 5 having a slug 6 in its front part and a cavity I in its rear part. A combustible loaded into. the cavityor into a cup placed therein, consists of a tracer coma position 9 and an igniter mixture III which is adapted to be ignited from the propellent charge and to transmit ignition to the tracer composition.

The igniter mixture possesses the characteris- 35 tic of being invisible or non-tracing when the bullet is in flight and'its quantity and rate of burning will determine the point in the trajectory at which ignition is transmitted to the tracer composition which when burning is clearly visi- 40 ble; As an example, in a .30 caliber bullet, 2.5

grains of the particular igniter mixture to be disclosed herein provides a delay corresponding to the first 250 yards of the trajectory.

An igniter mixture capable of functioning in the manner outlined consists of a resinate of an alkaline earth metal such as calcium -20%, a

This invention relates to tracer ammunition peroxide of an alkaline earth metal such as strontium '70 -90%, and a met llic fuel such as magnesium 0-10%. The resinates and peroxides of other metals may be combined to impart the property of invisibility. The magnesium may be 5 omitted, or other metals or fuels added to modify the properties. oxidizers may also be added to the mixture in order to modify the burning characteristics.

A particular example of an igniter mixture 10 which is invisible when burning is, as follows:

Percent Calcium resinate 5 Strontium peroxide 90 Magnesium 5 These ingredients are blended dry and loaded on top of the tracer composition in a suitable press. An alternative method of blending consists in first wetting the calcium resinate and strontium peroxide with carbon tetra-chloride. After mixing the whole thoroughly it is poured into shallow pans and dried at a gentle heat. The dried cake is then granulated to the desired fineness and the magnesium added. The igniter prepared in this manner is generally more stable than the igniter made by blending the dry ingredients.

We claim:

1. A delay non-tracing igniter mixture for tracer ammunition comprising calcium resinate 5%, strontium peroxide 90%, magnesium 5%.

2. A delay non-tracing igniter mixture for tracer ammunition comprising calcium resinate 5-20%, strontium peroxide 70-90%, and magnesium up to 10%. ,1

3. A delay non-tracingigniter mixture for tracer ammunition comprising a resinate of an alkaline earth metal 5-20%, a peroxide of an alkaline earth metal 70-90%, and a metallic fuel up to 10%. 40

4. A delay non-tracing igniter mixture'for tracer ammunition comprising calcium resinate 5-20%, strontium peroxide 80-95%.

THOMAS STEVENSON. ERNEST R. RECHEL. 

